


lonely limbs connect

by astrangetypeofchemistry



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Assassination plot, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff, Knight!Catra, Princess!Adora, Romance, Royal!Adora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 14:27:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19443307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrangetypeofchemistry/pseuds/astrangetypeofchemistry
Summary: When Catra first joins the conspirators, she doesn’t think the high will disappear. She thinks that getting revenge on the monarchs will be fun, that there’ll be a sense of justice tied to it that will never fade. She firmly believes that until the royal family is completely dead, she won’t rest, won’t part from the plot until democracy has been instituted in their land.Of course, she’s wrong on all accounts.





	lonely limbs connect

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bow_woahh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bow_woahh/gifts).



> For the SPOP Pride Exchange.

The thing is, being part of an assassination plot is fun. It’s empowering to know that you’re doing something to end the oppressive regime that has slowly been stealing the resources from your land. There’s something quite uplifting in knowing the code words and secret ongoings of your co-conspirators. To know that the people who have stomped all over your friends and family will soon be at your mercy is a power high all on its own.

When Catra first joins the conspirators, she doesn’t think the high will disappear. She thinks that getting revenge on the monarchs will be fun, that there’ll be a sense of justice tied to it that will never fade. She firmly believes that until the royal family is completely dead, she won’t rest, won’t part from the plot until democracy has been instituted in their land. 

Of course, she’s wrong on all accounts. After all, she didn’t foresee herself starting to care for the royal she was meant to kill. She didn’t predict that she would see a side of the princess that was vulnerable and sweet and compassionate. And she sure as hell didn’t know she’d end up falling in love with the princess.

Naturally, that’s exactly what happened.

* * *

Catra has a really important job. She’s going undercover, right inside that castle. She’s going to talk to and laugh with the same royals whose murders they’re plotting. She’s going to become the sole defender of Princess Adora and then, when the time is right, she’ll have a sword with the hilt in her hand and the blade in Adora’s stomach. 

The plan is quite simple. The wife of one of the conspirators does laundry for the monarchs, and she’s heard the king and the princess talk about her getting her own security detail. The king had tried to give her three of his best knights, but the princess had insisted that she just wanted one warrior that was closer to her age. And since Catra was the youngest conspirator, she had the duty of getting that job.

Except getting the job also means fulfilling the duties. Which means that Catra is constantly by the princess’s side as the young woman parades around the palace from one room to another to complete her royal duties. And as Catra follows her around, she realizes that there is a deep sadness heavily weighing down the princess’s shoulders, her eyes glazed over like she was going through the motions. 

And despite Adora being the royal princess, Catra starts to wonder if maybe they have something in common after all.

* * *

The day Catra falls for the princess is a day like any other. She wakes up in the room she was assigned as the princess’s knight, carefully gets dressed to look regal and unassuming, and walks out to accompany the princess for breakfast. They are a mere 2 weeks away from the unfolding of the plan and Catra is  _ excited _ . She’s downright  _ ecstatic. _ She thinks any minute now she’ll burst from all the exhilaration she’s holding onto in her heart.

And then her heart stutters, because when she gets to Adora’s bedchambers, she is sobbing on her bed. Her shoulders are hunched, her knees are against her chest, and there are tears streaming down her cheeks as her eyes are screwed shut. Sympathy rises in Catra without her permission, and she sits by the princess’s side as she rubs her back. 

“Your Royal Highness, are you alright?”

As if Catra had said something wrong, the princesses sobs even more in response, nodding her head yes as if that could offset the moisture leaking from her eyes. 

“You don’t…  _ seem _ it.”

Adora rubs furiously under her eyes, looking at Catra angrily. “Well of course I’m alright. After all,  _ I’m _ not the one struggling to provide food or basic shelter for myself.  _ I’m _ not the one who’s suffering under the cruel taxes of my father with a tough job that barely pays enough. So I have no right to be miserable.”

Catra feels. Soft. She feels like she wants to take a blanket and wrap Adora in it when she realizes that there is a loneliness seeping in her eyes. “That doesn’t mean you can’t be miserable. You’re not frolicking in the grass. You’re cooped up in a castle where people only ever talk business to you. There are different ways to be miserable, princess.”

Adora sniffs, watches Catra closely, then nods. “If you say so. Would you mind stepping out so that I may freshen up a bit?”

And Catra. She smiles as she stands up, excitement and thrill dying in her heart as she realizes with a start that she absolutely, definitely cannot kill this woman. She can’t end her life before she’s truly gotten to experience it the way Catra has. 

Revolutions be damned. The ruling monarch may be corrupt, but the innocent ones didn’t have to die.

Or, rather, One innocent monarch didn’t have to die.

Adora didn’t have to die.

* * *

As it turns out, royal assassination plots, especially the ones where you had to kill a monarch and dispose of the corpse all on your own, wasn’t really a fun scheme to be a part of when you make the mistake of falling in love with that monarch. 

So there isn’t really any joy for Catra anymore. She keeps thinking about the glint of pain she sees in Princess Adora’s eyes, how she bows in front of her father out of duty and not love, how her heart seemed to bleed for the poor. And she thinks about the years she spent envying Adora for her fortune and regality, realizing now that what she thought she wanted came with its own heavy price to pay. 

And yet, despite knowing the price and how costly it can be, Catra knows, without a doubt, that she would take Adora’s debt just for her happiness. She knows she’d take a world of burdens on her shoulders for joy to be embedded in Adora’s eyes and smile, and that’s how she knows that she is completely and utterly in love. 

Catra tells herself,  _ I’m going to save her.  _ She looks at her reflections and says,  _ I’m going to protect her. _ She smiles at Adora from across the table and decides,  _ I’m going to help her experience freedom. _

She is resolute in her choices. She knows what she must do.

* * *

The night that should be Adora’s last comes soon. Catra is standing as close to her as she can, trying her best to keep an eye on the other rebels and distance Adora from them. She’s positive Adora can see paranoia and worry in her eyes. 

She doesn’t quite care. 

At a quarter to midnight, Adora turns to her and asks, “Will you accompany me to the balcony?” and Catra nods, one hand on the sword by her side and the other moving to Adora’s back. She thinks the others are nodding at her, as if congratulating her on fighting the perfect window to complete the task. 

She knows she’s not going to do that.

Adora stands at the railing, soft breeze billowing her hair and dress. Catra takes a minute to stare before shattering this ethereal vision forever. 

“Your Royal Highness,” she calls, and Adora turns to her with affection adorning her eyes. “There’s something I must tell you.”

“That you’re here to kill me?” Adora responds, eyes twinkling now. Catra’s heart beats faster in her chest. She wonders if Adora tricked her. She wonders if she’s going to die tonight. 

“No,” she says anyway. “I’m here to save you.”

Adora walks closer to her, narrows her eyes and says, without fear, “I already know about the assassination plot. I already know you’ve been lying to me this entire time. Why should I trust you?”

There’s only one card Catra holds in this conversation, a card she thought she would cherish for just a little while longer. 

She would have to give it up, just to earn Adora’s trust.

“You don’t know that I fell in love with you,” Catra says. “You don’t know that I have plans to get you out of here so you can truly experience life.”

Her lips turn up just a little bit as she stares at Catra’s eyes like she’s looking for the sincerity in them. “Okay,” she says, and she leaves Catra reeling. 

“Okay?”

And Adora smiles full on, like she was born just for this. “Okay.”

* * *

The thing is, domestic life is fun. You get to wake up in the arms of your spouse day after day, share jokes and experiences and  _ life _ with a person who spends their days loving and cherishing you. You feel happy and joyful and  _ ecstatic _ when they’re in your arms or smiling with you or just anywhere around you. 

When Catra fights with Adora, she does it knowing that love doesn’t diminish that easily. When they refuse to talk to each other, she knows that fighting is a part of healing. So she sits with her wife even when they’re both fuming, because vows don’t break the same way good times do. 

Of course, she only says that because she has the firm belief that Adora will apologize and try to make it up to her, simply because neither one of them can handle the silence for too long. Catra is certain that any space between them will be amended by Adora without hesitation, because out of the two of them, she’s the one that hates conflict.

Naturally, Catra turns out to be wrong.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: [](https://catradorian.tumblr.com/)


End file.
